


Who We Once Were

by Diary



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Background Relationships, Bechdel Test Fail, Bottle Episode Fic, Canon Queer Character, Conversations, Dark Character, Minor Charlie/Quinn Perkins, Multi, Past Cyrus Beene/Tom Larsen - Freeform, Past Relationship(s), Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9651863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: Charlie and Tom talk in an interrogation room. Complete.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Scandal.

Sitting down, Charlie props his feet on the interrogation table. “By the way, I’m getting married soon. Robin. So, uh, if I were to say anything about not falling for your asset, well, I wouldn’t have room to talk. Geez, Golden Retriever, I wish you weren’t giving me room to talk.”

Tom shakes his head.

“He wasn’t an assignment. He wasn’t a target. Hell, you can’t even really call him an asset, can you? You could have gotten money and a warm place to sleep from a plethora of others. Sex, too, although, the idea of you- yeah, still having trouble wrapping my head around that one. So, help me out here.”

Leaning back, Tom merely looks at him.

“Oh, come on, Tom, you know that I’m not trying to play gladiator, and you know I’m not an ally of yours. Whatever finally gets me and Robin to the Caribbean, I’ll do it. No. This is about me trying to understand how Command’s top boy, the one we all called Robot behind your back, and to your face, in my case, ended up here. Man, woman, rich, poor, old, young, powerful, ordinary, you not only choose Cyrus Beene, but he hurts you, and instead of killing him or framing him for a federal crime, or hey, exposing him for any of the actual federal crimes you know he committed, you go back to him, he hurts you again, and now, you’re going down with him.”

Charlie scoffs. “Me falling for Robin, look, I got older, I settled some, and I have a history of doing odd, inexplicable things. But the Tom Larsen you once were, how would he view the Tom Larsen sitting here now?”

“Why are you in love with Lindsay Quinn Robin?”

Looking up at the harsh florescent lights, Charlie considers the question.

“You aren’t going to be able to answer,” Tom continues. “It’s not just one thing. It might not quite be everything, but who she is, that person is special to you. For whatever reason, you want to build a life with her, protect her, and make sure she’s always happy.”

Charlie looks back over.

Tom pushes his bottle of water over, and unscrewing the lid, Charlie takes a drink. “Yeah, you being in love with Cyrus Beene, kinda figured that out, buddy. So, the answer is: Love strikes all big and small, and to hell if you can fight it? Or some other nonsensical Hallmark quote?”

Shaking his head, Tom says, “I don’t consider it funny, but you probably will: There was a time Cyrus was safe. I saw exactly who he was: An ambitious, self-serving, manipulative man who could justify anything given the time. You know, it’s a misconception that empathetic people tend towards kindness. Compassion. Empathy is simply the ability to identify what a person is feeling and understand why.”

“Cyrus has a great deal of empathy when he chooses to utilise it, but I have more. I knew he was closeted. I knew he was in love with James Novak. If I’d been around when things started with Ambruso, I probably would have seen and known how it was liable to play out. But for all his brilliance and skills, he never stood a chance against a B6-13 agent.”

“He never knew how much I wanted to touch him and be touched by him. He never knew how impressed I was to see him rise higher and higher. He was never going to know. And then, Command abandoned me.”

“Objectively, Cyrus Beene was a good choice. You weren’t his main contractor anymore. He could give me enough money I could have disappeared anywhere and lived out my days in peace and comfort. The work was easy enough I could do it but challenging enough to make it fun.”

Unimpressed, Charlie states, “You were smart enough to realise why, objectively, none of that mattered.”

“Maybe. I had no idea how it would play out, but I decided I was going to get what I’d wanted for years. Again with the not funny from my side: I stopped hiding, I made it so obvious that strangers who saw us together knew, and yet, for all he’s good at reading most people, he kept failing to see. I should have- but I finally got him to see, and I got exactly what I wanted. In doing so, I gave up every advantage I had against him, and I’m not sure I even realised I had until recently. Or worse, maybe I did, but I didn’t care the way I should have.”

“Sorry, Golden Retriever,” he offers. “I do know what it’s like- You’re in love, you don’t realise it, think it’s something else or that it can’t possibly be any deeper, and then, oh, rats, you’ve gotten close enough to the person that you realise, truly understand, how deep your feelings go. If that ain’t bad enough, if they decide they don’t want you, it hurts like a mother.”

“Hmm.” Raising the bottle slightly, Tom takes a drink. “Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.”

“Thanks. So-” He takes a breath. “Why are you here, Tom? When Robin didn’t want me, I definitely didn’t have any plans to bring her down, and if you ever make her think I did, I’ll be the one killing you, but purely hypothetical, and, Robin, if you happen to somehow find out about this conversation, I’m stressing the hypothetical, but if I had, those plans wouldn’t have involved risk to myself.”

Tom gives him a look. “How many times has Cyrus been so close to falling but managed to rise even higher? The only thing I have worth anything is my need for him to be brought permanently down. Remember what Command taught us? Sometimes, a mission comes along that calls for us to go down to see it completed. I’m willing to go down to make absolutely sure that he isn’t able to get back up.”

“Such a waste, though,” he comments.

“The Tom Larsen I once was would think that what I’m doing right now is the best thing I possibly could.”

Standing up, Charlie walks around and settles his hand around the back of Tom’s neck.  “Standing outside the fire, huh, Tommy boy? Who I was, oh, he’d hate how soft I’ve become, working almost exclusively on the self-appointed white hat side, desperate to marry this woman who was supposed to just be some girl I used as an asset. There’s really no use in feeling contempt, huh? We never, ever would have listened if we’d somehow been warned. At least, now, we know a little better.”

“Goodbye, Charlie.”

Squeezing, he says, “Later.”

Letting go, he walks out.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: I'm not sure if Charlie would still call Cyrus 'Chief' or not. In the past, Cyrus was Chief of Staff, and I'm not sure if he's ever referred to Cyrus as such after Cyrus stopped holding that position. Maybe future episodes will shed some light on this.


End file.
